Pregnant Womens Diets Are Low in Fish, Low in Omega-3s

October 6, 2008 Boston, MA Grocery stores and nutrition educators now have access to a new nutrition education flyer that helps moms and moms-to-be understand the important benefits of eating seafood during pregnancy and breastfeeding while staying within current government guidelines. This week, during the 2008 Food Marketing Institutes Consumer Affairs Seminar in Boston, grocers got their first look at the educational handout designed to communicate nutrition advice about fish in a targeted and balanced manner.

Despite multiple and large research studies that clearly show the benefits of eating fish during pregnancy, pregnant women in the U.S. are still eating less than two ounces of seafood a week, said Jennifer Wilmes, a registered dietitian with the National Fisheries Institute and member of the Seafood and Pregnancy Taskforce. So we have to be thoughtful about the messages we are giving them.

The flyer is consistent with government advice and several new studies suggesting women need to be eating 2-3 meals of a variety of fish a week to set their babies up for optimal health. Fish is one of the only naturally-rich food sources of the type of omega-3s needed for eye and brain development. Communications prior to the latest science often overemphasized speculation about harm from trace amounts of mercury in commercial seafood.

A taskforce of dietitians, food communicators, and maternal health experts from the Food Marketing Institute, the International Food Information Council Foundation, the National Fisheries Institute and the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition participated in a review of the science and the creation of the flyer. It combines the Institute of Medicines and the Food and Drug Administrations guidance as well as the latest independent seafood science.

Were excited to offer a flyer that gives moms-to-be and breastfeeding moms balanced information and accurate guidance so they can make healthful eating choices during pregnancy, said Wilmes. Our research shows that after reading the new flyer, women are encouraged to eat a variety of fish a few times per week, while theyre still aware that there are four fish to avoid.

The flyer comes out just weeks after Harvard Medical School published a landmark study of over 25,000 mothers and babies that found eating plenty of fish during pregnancy leads to better child development.

Theres a real need to combat the misinformation thats out there, said Wilmes. Retailers and nutrition educators who want to provide their customers with advice based on sound nutrition science will benefit greatly from this piece.

For more than 60 years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have provided American families with the variety of sustainable seafood essential to a healthy diet. For more information visit: www.AboutSeafood.com.

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Contact Information

Gavin Gibbons
(703) 752-8891
ggibbons@NFI.org